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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Len K, thank you for starting this great, nostalgic thread. What we have here is the answer to that other thread about why we collect.

Seems that everyone only cared about 'this' year when I was a kid. Once in a while an adult might mention some player I'd never heard of... who cares. But then, two books got me interested in the old guys, an interest that waned a bit before its current serious waxing...

The first book I think I was given in the summer of 1964. I've long lost my original copy, this replacement I found is from 1966. It is just over 11" tall, and about 8" wide, a huge book for me at age 9.

Oh the stories. I read about Mike Kelly, who one day was managing, while his team was in the field. A foul was hit near the dugout, straight toward Kelly, he announced, "Kelly now catching," and caught the ball. The rules said a substitute had to be announced, and a substitute could enter the game at any time, that was all. Nothing about when, umpire recognition... Kelly lost his argument. The rule was changed; a substitute could enter only when the ball is dead, our modern rule today.

John McGraw used to stand at third, and if a runner was about to tag up on an outfield fly, he'd hold their belt for a moment, so they could be thrown out. The umpire couldn't keep his eyes on everything... but one day as the runner tags, Mr. McGraw grabs the belt, the runner breaks for the plate, and McGraw is left holding the belt! The runner had unbuckled it.

In about 175 pages, with lots of photos and medium size type, the book covered the history of the game, beginnings, league wars, Cobb, Wagner, Ruth, Black Sox, Gehrig... I loved it.



The second book was "My Greatest Day in Baseball"... George Sisler's story was a fine one. Rogers Hornsby loved putting the tag on Ruth for the last out of the 1926 World Series. The book had numerous editions. Mine would have been from the early 60s. I have my first one somewhere, in boxes of baseball books that will crash down from the attic, through my ceiling, smashing me down in my bed, pinning me against the boxes of books under the bed. Gotta go some way, I guess.


A great thread, keep the stories coming!!!